Mr. Speaker, I certainly do think it is right for the government in B.C. to be build those ferries. It should also be noted that there has been a reduction in coastal defence vessels from 12 to 6. The coast guard needs ships, ferries, frigates and whatever and they should be built right now in Canada.
This government has decided to spend $1.2 billion more to buy ships from another country. What do the other countries do? They have sweatshops in which the men and women work for perhaps $1.50 an hour. We do not stand for sweatshops. What we stand for is dignity for every man, woman and child in this country. That is what I believe in.
We were so proud when we built those frigates. The admiral would come when we launched one of them, and the men and women were so proud of what they had done. The admiral would be present at every launch and would praise the men and women at the shipyard in Quebec and the men and women at our shipyard.
How can we look ourselves in the face now when we see what has happened to our navy? Look at it.
When it comes to illegal immigrants out west, we need to have the ships for the coast guard and for our navy. We need to put our men and women back to work. Let us make them a top priority.